Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Ring My Bellamy!

What can I say? Does this great man need an introduction? Spending most of his life pouring over the intros, outros, breakdowns, buildups with his music, Bellamy certainly is a force, not to be reckoned with.

Bellamy has been privileged musically, bathed in high praise thanks to the ambition of his father. Being in "The Tornados" Bellamy's father has the title of having the first British single ever to top the American charts with "Telstar". Could this be a taste of the future?

Beyond the refuge Bellamy could find in music, he raised his passion up to an art of living. At the tender age of 10, Bellamy learnt to play the piano - mostly by ear. But being the ferocious musician, he couldn't resist learning the guitar, self-teaching himself how to play as a means to release the tensions of everyday life.

"...when something was going wrong with my family, music was the best remedy. " - Bellamy's confession

Although Muse were just started out the business of making rock, it was Bellamy's surprising choir-boy vocals soaring as high as Radiohead's frontman, Thom Yorke that drew in the early comparisons and controversy far and wide. Initially Bellamy credited Yorke's blistering vocals as a means of expressing himself - but the comparisons and hype haunted him.

In essence, Muse and Bellamy had to create their own sound. It is here the music takes over. Moving right over the "oh so hip" trip-hop, mellow-melodious kitsch that British band seem to adopt and emulate copiously, Muse and Bellamy set their own score. Bellamy used all facets of his creativity to produce the most guttural of all wallowing poetic psalms. Without the much desperation of clichés and analogies, Muse talked about death, fear, survival and ultimately, joy.

"You make me sick
Because I adore you so
I love all the dirty tricks
And twisted games you play
On me" - Space Dementia

Not content on relying on twisted, emotive writing prose, Bellamy sort out to build and create a style of his own. Always using the talents and skills of Chris Wolstenholm and Dominic Howard, Bellamy is no stranger to using the latest technology and experimentation. Shown looking blankly at a refreshing computer screen, Bellamy maps out entirely how the appegios should form and played out.

Is this where the magic of Muse bloom? Apparently not. Not only does technology aid in constructing a sound, but Bellamy takes in a barrage of quirky instruments and settings to find the perfect sound. The perfect beat. The perfect element. Like amino acids make up the building blocks of DNA, Bellamy constructs the building blocks of sounds into something quite out of this world.

The reason why Bellamy has crafted such an aura and persistence, is the sole fact that he is ultimately a performer. Of course he is firstly a musician. But what good is a musician when performance rate secondly or is sub-standard? This is where Muse shine. All three are performers.

It is this dedication and the natural finesse to which Bellamy employ in his song-writing. Dotted throughout the myriad of songs are hidden classical elements. Historically and genre-specifically confined to classical music, Bellamy shun this and brought out the best of classical music - fusing it with anthemic rock to stamp his own brand of music - neo-classical rock.

Almost bordering on metalrock, the brilliance is that of Muse tend to bring out the best out of pure distortion and fuzzy basslines. Bellamy does not hide his passion and love for choral and classical music. These elements are reserved for the most epic of tracks - creating their own highlight, their own standing ovation. You cannot help but to hear in all its glory, the blinding triads, appegios and uplifting scales on the electrified piano Bellamy is fond of when he performs.